A Photographer in Katmandu Assesses the Earthquake’s Damage

Patrick Adams, 36, an American writer and photographer who specializes in public health reporting, was in Katmandu Saturday when a major earthquake hit the country, killing nearly 4,000 people. Since then, Mr. Adams has been traveling around the city to see the destruction, and talking to victims and health care workers at the city’s teaching hospital.

He spoke with The Times Monday via Skype from a house on the edge of Katmandu. The following interview with Mr. Adams has been edited and condensed.

Where were you and what were you doing when the earthquake struck on Saturday?

I was at a hotel called Shangri-La. Katmandu is crazy and polluted, and this hotel is sort of a sanctuary with a nice courtyard out back. I had been going there every day. I was trying to put my coffee back on the table and didn’t realize what was happening. Then things started falling off the wall; I was like, “Oh, it’s an earthquake!”

There was a gardener in the courtyard, and I realized afterward that he and I were sort of holding onto one another.

What did you do immediately after the earthquake?

I had forgotten my camera at my apartment, which was about a half-hour walk away, so I decided to walk back to my place. On the way, I came across a crowd. People were mostly in the middle of the street because they were worried about buildings falling, but everyone was gathered around this house. I went up and asked what was happening and was told there were three kids buried inside. I ran back to get my camera and when I got back, the kids had already been sent to the hospital.

I got to the children’s hospital, and they were trying to resuscitate two of the kids. I started taking photographs, not realizing that they were probably already dead. There was just no movement. I was standing next to one who had already died. There was a tiny blanket on the ground, and flies flying over. It was a shock. My understanding is this family lost three children.

The parents were sobbing. Both of them were in terrible grief. The mother was wailing.

How did you respond to what you were seeing?

I wanted to cry. It’s not the blood or the broken limbs. That’s sad. But I think watching people cry, that is what is just horrible. Seeing people in that kind of emotional distress. For me, it’s just too much.

What did you do after visiting the Children’s Hospital?

I crossed the street to the teaching hospital. Around the grounds, there were easily hundreds of people. They were on benches and tables — people bleeding, broken limbs. They were triaging people based on the severity of their injuries.

You took a photograph of two brothers at Katmandu’s T.U. Teaching Hospital. How are they doing?

I took that photo Saturday, probably a few minutes after they had come in. I visited the hospital again today, and the younger brother looked much better. He was walking around the wards.

Were there any other patients who stuck out for you?

I took a photo of a woman named Himaly. She had two broken arms, two broken legs. She was a bus driver from a faraway district called Jumla. The teaching hospital is a referral hospital, so people come from around the country. She came from a six-hour bus ride away, after she had broken four limbs.

How has the situation at the teaching hospital changed since the first day?

I have visited the teaching hospital every day. On Saturday, there was disarray. There was overload. A lot of people were coming with compound fractures, all kinds of surgical needs. So they were overwhelmed the first couple days.

On Monday, it was much calmer. It’s a much more orderly scene. There are still people in great pain at the hospital, but it’s not the chaotic scene that it was on Saturday.

How would you describe Nepal’s health care system before the quake struck, and how could this impact the recovery?

Broadly speaking, access to facilities is really difficult here. You have stories of women trekking for days over 1500-foot, 1600-foot passes to get to a facility to deliver a baby, or in many cases to die. That is less and less the case because now they’re opening birthing centers and they’re distributing a drug to prevent postpartum hemorrhaging.

Are people still sleeping outside out of fear of aftershocks?

Yes. People are freaked out so they’re still sleeping outside. I don’t know how long that’s going to continue. It could go on for a while. So people are sleeping in yards. I can look out this window and see people in tents right now. Every open space, people are occupying in tents or other tarps.

Where have you been sleeping?

The last couple nights I was outside. I was first at a hostel near the Shangri-La. They offered to put me up in their compound, gave me a little mattress. The second night I was back at the guesthouse where I had been staying. I wanted to stay inside, but the owner wouldn’t let me, so I was staying on the grounds of the guesthouse under a tent. It rained all night.

Now, I am in a house that was built to sustain aftershocks. It’s one story, so I’m not too worried about it.

What have you been eating since Saturday?

Getting cooked food is really tough. I’ve been eating cookies and crackers for two or three days, whatever you can buy at the little market on the corner. It’s so hard to find cooked food. Nobody is cooking momos or noodles.

Oh hey … got to go … earthquake … wow …

Are you OK?

I am fine. I was just made fun of for being overdramatic. It was a small aftershock.

You were talking about the lack of cooked food options.

There’s no electricity in some parts of the city for the whole day now. Plus people aren’t sleeping in their homes, so they’re not going to work. So momos are not being made.

In Thamel, nothing is open. There are no restaurants open anywhere in the city that I know of. I have walked and walked.

Where are you going next?

The question is how much devastation outside of Katmandu has happened. I am going tomorrow to a village north of Katmandu, called Tame. In areas like that, where you have poor construction of houses, mud homes, my understanding is you have a lot of devastation.

And finally, what was the mood in Katmandu on Monday?

People don’t seem to be panicking. They seem to be handling it pretty calmly. Obviously people have lost loved ones, and those people I can’t imagine what they are going through. But generally speaking, I don’t get a sense of panic in the streets.

Generally speaking, I think the Nepali people are some of the kindest people I have ever met. It’s incredible how generous and warm they are. You can walk down the street and people just ask if you are O.K. and will go out of the way for you, even if you have nothing. That makes being here really special. That’s one reason I have stayed for so long. I meant to stay for two weeks, and I have been here for three months.